Anarcho-primitivism is an
anarchistAnarchism is a political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which consider the state, as compulsory government, to be unnecessary, harmful, and/or undesirable, and favors the absence of the state ....
critique of the origins and progress of
civilizationA civilization is a complex society or culture group characterized by dependence upon agriculture, long-distance trade, state form of government, occupational specialization, population, and class stratification.-Definition:...
. According to anarcho-primitivism, the shift from
hunter-gathererA hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild, foraging and hunting without significant recourse to the domestication of either...
to
agriculturalAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
subsistence gave rise to
social stratificationIn sociology and anthropology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of individuals into social classes, castes, and divisions within a society...
,
coercionCoercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats, intimidation, trickery, or some other form of pressure or force. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
, and
alienationIn sociology and critical social theory, alienation refers to an individual's estrangement from traditional community and others in general. It is considered by many that the atomism of modern society means that individuals have shallower relations with other people than they would normally...
. Anarcho-primitivists advocate a return to non-"civilized" ways of life through deindustrialisation, abolition of
division of labourDivision of labour or economic specialisation is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and roles, intended to increase the productivity of labour...
or
specializationSpecialization is the separation of tasks within a system. In a multicellular creature, cells are specialized for functions such as bone construction or oxygen transport. In capitalist societies, individual workers specialize for functions such as building construction or gasoline transport. In...
, and abandonment of large-scale organization
technologiesTechnology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment...
. There are other non-anarchist forms of
primitivismPrimitivism is the opinion that life was better or more moral during the early stages of mankind or among primitive peoples and has deteriorated with civilization - is a response to the perennial question of whether the development of complex civilization and technology has benefited or harmed...
, and not all primitivists point to the same phenomenon as the source of modern, civilized problems.
Many traditional anarchists reject the critique of civilization, many even denying that anarcho-primitivism has anything to do with anarchism, while some, such as
Wolfi LandstreicherWolfi Landstreicher is the current nom de plume of a contemporary anarchist philosopher involved in theoretical and practical activity. He edited the anarchist publication Willful Disobedience, which was published from 1996 until 2005, and currently publishes a variety of anarchist, radical,...
, endorse the critique but do not consider themselves anarcho-primitivists. Anarcho-primitivists are often distinguished by their focus on the praxis of achieving a
feralA feral organism is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to a wild state. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, can disrupt ecosystems and may, in some cases, contribute to extinction of indigenous...
state of being through "
rewildingRewilding is the process of creating permanently wild human cultures beyond domestication. In green anarchism and anarcho-primitivism, humans are said to be "civilized" or "domesticated" by civilization. Supporters of such human rewilding argue that through the process of domestication, human...
".
Early influences within anarchism
Anarchism started to have an ecological view mainly in the writings of American individualist anarchist and
transcendentalistTranscendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early to middle 19th century...
Henry David ThoreauHenry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist...
. In his book
WaldenWalden by Henry David Thoreau is an American classic. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, and manual for self reliance....
he advocates
simple livingSimple living is a lifestyle characterized by minimizing the "more is better" pursuit of wealth and consumption...
and
self-sufficiencySelf-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid, support, or interaction, for survival; it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy...
among natural surroundings in resistance to the advancement of industrial civilization.
An ecologist current within anarchism was anarcho-naturism which mainly had relevance within european individualist anarchism.
Concepts
Anarcho-primitivists argue that prior to the advent of
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
, humans lived in small,
nomadNomadic people are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in...
ic
bandsA band society is the simplest form of human society. A band generally consists of a small kin group, no larger than an extended family or clan; it has been defined as consisting of no more than 30 to 50 individuals.Bands have a loose organization...
which were socially, politically, and economically
egalitarianEgalitarianism has two distinct definitions in modern English. It is defined either as a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights or as a social philosophy advocating the removal of economic...
. Being without hierarchy, these bands are sometimes viewed as embodying a form of
anarchismAnarchism is a political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which consider the state, as compulsory government, to be unnecessary, harmful, and/or undesirable, and favors the absence of the state ....
.
John MooreJohn Moore was a British anarchist author, teacher and organiser. He died after collapsing on his way to work as a creative writing lecturer at the University of Luton...
writes that anarcho-primitivism seeks "to expose, challenge and abolish all the multiple forms of power that structure the individual, social relations, and interrelations with the natural world."
Primitivists hold that, following the emergence of agriculture, the growing masses of humanity subtly became evermore beholden to technological processes and abstract
power structurePower Structure may refer to:* Hierarchy* The Establishment...
s arising from the
division of labourDivision of labour or economic specialisation is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and roles, intended to increase the productivity of labour...
and
hierarchyA hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another and with only one "neighbor" above and below each level. These classifications are made with regard to rank, importance, seniority, power status or authority...
. Primitivists disagree over what degree of
horticultureHorticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation. Some would say that horticulture is the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant...
might be present in an anarchist society, with some arguing that
permaculturePermaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and perennial agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecologies. It was first developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and their associates during the 1970s in a series of publications...
could have a role but others advocating a strictly
hunter-gathererA hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild, foraging and hunting without significant recourse to the domestication of either...
subsistence.
Primitivism has drawn heavily upon
cultural anthropologyCultural anthropology is one of four or five fields of anthropology . It is the branch of anthropology that examines culture as a meaningful scientific concept....
and
archaeologyArchaeology or archeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material culture and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, and landscapes...
. Within the last half-century, societies once viewed as barbaric have been largely reevaluated by academics, some of whom now hold that early humans lived in relative peace and prosperity. Frank Hole, an early-agriculture specialist, and Kent Flannery, a specialist in Mesoamerican civilization, have noted that, "No group on earth has more leisure time than hunters and gatherers, who spend it primarily on games, conversation and relaxing."
Scholars such as
Karl PolanyiKarl Paul Polanyi was a Hungarian intellectual known for his opposition to traditional economic thought and his influential book The Great Transformation.-Early life:...
and
Marshall SahlinsMarshall David Sahlins is a prominent American anthropologist. He received both a Bachelors and Masters degree at the University of Michigan where he studied with Leslie White, and earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1954 where his main intellectual influences included Karl Polanyi and...
characterized primitive societies as
gift economiesIn the social sciences, a gift economy is a society where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards . Ideally, simultaneous or recurring giving serves to circulate and redistribute valuables within the community...
with "goods valued for their utility or beauty rather than cost; commodities exchanged more on the basis of need than of
exchange valueIn political economy and especially Marxian economics, exchange value refers to one of four major attributes of a commodity, i.e., an item or service produced for, and sold on the market...
; distribution to the society at large without regard to labor that members have invested; labor performed without the idea of a wage in return or individual benefit, indeed largely without the notion of 'work' at all." Other scholars and thinkers such as
Paul ShepardPaul Howe Shepard, Jr. was an American environmentalist and author best known for introducing the "Pleistocene paradigm" to deep ecology. His works have attempted to establish a normative framework in terms of evolutionary theory and developmental psychology...
, influenced by anthropologist
Claude Lévi-StraussClaude Lévi-Strauss is a French-Jewish anthropologist.-Biography:Claude Lévi-Strauss, born in Brussels, grew up in Paris, living in a street of the 16th arrondissement named after the artist Claude Lorrain, whose work he later admired and wrote about...
, have written of the "
Evolutionary PrincipleThe evolutionary principle is a largely psychological doctrine formulated by anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss which roughly states that when a species is removed from the habitat in which it evolved, or that habitat changes significantly within a brief period, the species will develop maladaptive...
" which roughly states that when a species is removed from its natural habitat its behaviors will become pathological. Shepard has written at length on ways in which the human species' natural "ontogeny", which developed through millions of years of evolution in a foraging mode of existence, has been disrupted due to a
sedentary lifestyleSedentary lifestyle is a medical term used to denote a type of lifestyle with a lack of physical exercise. It is commonly found in both the developed and developing world and characterized by sitting, reading, watching television and computer use for much of the day with little or no vigorous...
caused by agriculture.
Civilization
Anarcho-primitivists view civilization as the
logicLogic, from the Greek λογική is the art and science of reasoning. More specifically, it is defined by the Penguin Encyclopedia to be "The formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning". As a discipline, logic dates back to Aristotle, who established its...
, institutions, and physical apparatus of
domesticationDomestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. A defining characteristic of domestication is artificial selection by humans...
, control, and domination. They focus primarily on the question of origins. Civilization is seen as the underlying problem or root of oppression, and must therefore be dismantled or destroyed.
Anarcho-primitivists describe the rise of civilization as the shift over the past 10,000 years from an existence within and deeply connected to the web of life, to one psychologically separated from and attempting to control of the rest of life. They argue that prior to civilization there generally existed ample leisure time, considerable
gender equalityGender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders or the sexes, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality....
and
social equalitySocial equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
, a non-destructive and uncontrolling approach to the natural world, the absence of organized
violenceViolence is the expression of physical or verbal force against self or other, compelling action against one's will on pain of being hurt. Variant uses of the term refer to the destruction of non-living objects . Worldwide, violence is used as a tool of manipulation and also is an area of concern...
, no mediating or formal institutions, and strong
healthAt the of the creation of the World Health Organization , in 1948, Health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"....
and robustness. Anarcho-primitivists state that civilization inaugurated mass
warWar is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
fare, the subjugation of women,
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
growth, busy work, concepts of property, entrenched hierarchies, as well as encouraging the spread of diseases. They claim that civilization begins with and relies on an enforced renunciation of instinctual freedom and that it is impossible to
reformA reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society rather than rapid or fundamental changes. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements.Reformists' ideas are often...
away such a renunciation.
The domestication of life
DomesticationDomestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. A defining characteristic of domestication is artificial selection by humans...
, according to primitivists, is the process that civilization uses to induct and control life according to its strictly ordered logic. Essentially, domestication is the tendency of civilization, as an orderly, predictable system, to attempt to assimilate the entire rest of the universe into itself, to make the whole world into one colossal orderly, predictable system. The mechanisms of domestication are said to include: taming, breeding, genetically modifying, schooling, caging, intimidating, coercing, extorting from, promising, contracting, governing, enslaving, terrorizing, raping, murdering, etc. Domestication is a pathological power-process begun by some groups of early humans who wished to reduce the uncertainties and dangers of life, attempting to manufacture a completely safe and organized existence. It is ultimately
this forceTechnophilia refers generally to a strong enthusiasm for technology, especially new technologies such as personal computers, the Internet, mobile phones and home cinema...
that primitivists (especially anarcho-primitivists) array themselves against.
Primitivists also describe it (more specifically) as the process by which previously
nomadNomadic people are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in...
ic human populations shifted towards a sedentary or settled existence through
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
and
animal husbandryAnimal husbandry, also called animal science, stockbreeding or simple husbandry, is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock. It has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
. They claim that this kind of domestication demands a totalitarian relationship with both the land and the plants and animals being domesticated - ultimately, it even requires a totalitarian relationship with humanity. They say that whereas, in a state of wildness, all life shares and competes for resources, domestication destroys this balance. The domesticated landscape (e.g. pastoral lands/agricultural fields and, to a lesser degree,
horticultureHorticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation. Some would say that horticulture is the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant...
and
gardeningGardening is the practice of growing ornamental or useful plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance. Useful plants may be grown for consumption or for a variety of other purposes, such as medicines or dyes...
) is seen to necessitate the end of open sharing of the resources that formerly existed; where once “this was everyone’s,” it is now “mine.” Anarcho-primitivists argue that this notion of ownership laid the foundation for social
hierarchyA hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another and with only one "neighbor" above and below each level. These classifications are made with regard to rank, importance, seniority, power status or authority...
as property and power emerged. It inevitably entailed the cultivation and exploitation of the surrounding environs and the creation of a simultaneous monopoly and
monopsonyIn economics, a monopsony is a market form in which only one buyer faces many sellers. It is an example of imperfect competition, similar to a monopoly, in which only one seller faces many buyers...
by humans, and for humans - generating over time the value-based social structures we now know in which every conceivable physical thing from food to earth to genes to ideas are viewed as quantifiable assets, which are someone's private property. It also involved the destruction, enslavement, or assimilation of other groups of early people who did not attempt to make such a transition, or who were not as far along in the transition as the destroying, enslaving, and assimilating groups.
To primitivists, domestication not only changes the ecology from a free to a totalitarian order, it enslaves the species that are domesticated, as well as the domesticators themselves. According to primitivism, then, humans are nearing the beginning of the last phase of the domestication process as we are now experimenting with direct genetic engineering, and are making dramatic and frightening advances in the fields of psychology, anthropology, and sociology. This thereby allows us to quantify and objectify ourselves, until we too become commodities and property of no greater or lesser fundamental import than any other asset.
Origins and dynamics of patriarchy
Anarcho-primitivists hold that toward the beginning in the shift to civilization, an early product of domestication is
patriarchyPatriarchy is the structuring of family units based on the man, as father figure, having primary authority over the rest of the family members. Patriarchy also refers to the role of men in society more generally where men take primary responsibility over the welfare of the community as a whole...
: the formalization of male domination and the development of institutions which reinforce it. Anarcho-primitivists say that by creating false
genderGender commonly refers to the set of characteristics that humans perceive as distinguishing between male and female entities, extending from one's biological sex to, in humans, one's social role or gender identity. As a term, "gender" has more than one valid definition...
distinctions and divisions between men and women, civilization, again, creates an “other” that can be objectified, controlled, dominated, utilized, and commodified. They see this as running parallel to the domestication of plants for agriculture and animals for herding, in general dynamics, and also in the specifics like the control of reproduction. Primitivists say that as in other realms of
social stratificationIn sociology and anthropology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of individuals into social classes, castes, and divisions within a society...
, roles are assigned to women in order to establish a very rigid and predictable order, beneficial to
hierarchyA hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another and with only one "neighbor" above and below each level. These classifications are made with regard to rank, importance, seniority, power status or authority...
. They claim that women came to be seen as
propertyProperty is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of persons. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property has the right to consume, sell, rent, mortgage, transfer, exchange or destroy his or her property, and/or to exclude others from...
, no different from the crops in the field or the sheep in the pasture. Primitivists argue that ownership and absolute control, whether of land, plants, animals, slaves, children, or women, is part of the established dynamic of civilization.
Patriarchy, to a primitivist, demands the subjugation of the feminine and the usurpation of
natureNature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
, propelling us toward total annihilation. They argue further that it defines power, control and dominion over wildness, freedom and life. They say that patriarchal conditioning dictates all of our interactions: with ourselves, our sexuality, our relationships to each other, and our relationship to nature. They claim it severely limits the spectrum of possible experience.
Division of labor and specialization
Anarcho-primitivists tend to see division of labor and specialization as fundamental and irreconcilable problems, decisive to social relationship within civilization. They see this disconnecting of the ability to care for ourselves and provide for our own needs as a technique of separation and dis-empowerment perpetuated by civilization. Specialization is seen as leading to inevitable inequalities of influence and undermining egalitarian relationships.
Rejection of science
Primitivists reject modern
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
as a method of understanding the world with a view to changing it. Science is not considered to be neutral by primitivists. It is seen as loaded with the motives and assumptions that come out of, and reinforce, civilization.
Modern scientific thought, according to primitivists, attempts to see the world as a collection of separate objects to be observed and understood. In order to accomplish this task, primitivists believe that scientists must distance themselves emotionally and physically, to have a one-way channel of information moving from the observed thing to the observer's self, which is defined as not a part of that thing.
Primitivists argue that this mechanistic worldview is tantamount to being the dominant religion of our time. Believing that science seeks to deal only with the
quantitativeA quantitative attribute is one that exists in a range of magnitudes, and can therefore be measured. Measurements of any particular quantitative property are expressed as a specific quantity, referred to as a unit, multiplied by a number. Examples of physical quantities are distance, mass, and time...
, primitivists suggest that it does not admit subjective values or emotions. While primitivists perceive science as claiming that only those things that are reproducible, predictable, and the same for all observers are real and important, primitivists believe that reality itself is not reproducible, predictable, or the same for all observers.
Science is seen by primitivists as only partially considering reality, and is therefore guilty of putative reductionism. Observability, objectifiability, quantifiability, predictability, controllability, and uniformity are said to be the objects and means of science. This, say primitivists, leads to the world view that everything should be objectified, quantified, controlled, and in uniformity with everything and everyone else. Primitivists also see science as promoting the idea that anomalous experience, anomalous ideas, and anomalous people should be cast off or destroyed like imperfectly shaped machine components.
The problem of technology
Primitivists denounce modern
technologyTechnology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment...
completely. They see it as a complex system involving division of labor, resource extraction, and exploitation for the benefit of those who implement its process. They argue that the interface with and result of modern technology is always an alienated, mediated, and distorted reality. Modern technology too, like
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
, is seen as not being value-neutral. The values and goals of those who produce and control technology are believed always to be embedded within it.
Modern technology is held by primitivists to be distinct from simple
toolA broad definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. The most basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more...
s in many regards. A simple tool is considered a temporary usage of an element within our immediate surroundings, used for a specific task. Tools are not viewed as involving complex systems which alienate the user from the act. Primitivists claim that this separation is implicit in technology, which creates an unhealthy and mediated experience which leads to various forms of authority. Domination is said to increase every time a modern “time-saving” technology is created, as primitivists claim it necessitates the construction of more technology to support, fuel, maintain, and repair the original technology. It is argued by primitivists that this leads very rapidly to the establishment of a complex technological system that seems to have an existence independent of the humans who created it. Primitivists believe that this system methodically destroys, eliminates, or subordinates the natural world, constructing a world fit only for
machineA machine is any device that uses energy to perform some activity. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work. A simple machine is a device that transforms the direction or magnitude of a force without consuming any energy...
s.
Production and industrialism
According to primitivists a key component of the modern
techno-capitalistTechnocapitalism is a term used to describe the changes in capitalism brought about by the emergence of high technology sectors in the economy.Luis Suarez-Villa, in his 2000 book Invention and Rise of Technocapitalism argues that it is a form of capitalism in which...
structure is industrialism, the mechanized system of production built on centralized power and the exploitation of people and nature. Industrialism cannot exist, they say, without genocide, ecocide, and colonialism. They further say that to maintain it, coercion, land evictions, forced labor, cultural destruction, assimilation, ecological devastation, and
global tradeGlobalization describes an ongoing process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a globe-spanning network of communication and exchange....
are accepted as necessary, even benign. Primitivists claim industrialism’s standardization of life
objectifiesObjectification is the process by which an abstract concept is treated as if it is a concrete thing or physical object. In this sense the term is synonym to reification....
and commodifies it, viewing all life as a potential resource. They see their critique of industrialism as a natural extension of the anarchist critique of the state because they see industrialism as inherently authoritarian.
The primitivist argument against industrialism is such: In order to maintain an industrial society, one must set out to conquer and colonize lands in order to unsustainably acquire (generally) non-renewable resources to construct, feed, fuel, and grease the machines. This colonialism is rationalized by
racismRacism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment...
,
sexismSexism, a term coined in the mid-20th century, is the belief or attitude that one gender or sex is inferior to, less competent, or less valuable than the other. It can also refer to hatred of, or prejudice towards, either sex as a whole , or the application of stereotypes of masculinity in relation...
, and cultural chauvinism. In the process of acquiring these resources, people must be forced off their land. Additionally, in order to make people work in the factories that produce the machines, they must be dispossessed, enslaved, made dependent, and otherwise subjected to the destructive, toxic, degrading industrial system.
Primitivists hold that industrialism cannot exist without massive
centralizationCentralisation, or centralization , is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding decision-making, become concentrated within a particular location and/or group....
and specialization. Furthermore, they hold that industrialism demands that resources be shipped from all over the globe in order to perpetuate its existence, and this globalism, they say, undermines local autonomy and self-sufficiency.
Finally primitivists contend that a engineeric worldview is behind industrialism, and that this same world-view has justified slavery, genocide, ecocide, and the subjugation of women.
Beyond Leftism
Primitivists do not see themselves as part of
the LeftIn politics, left-wing, political left, leftist and the Left are terms used to describe a number of positions and ideologies. They are most commonly used to refer to support for changing traditional social orders or for creating a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and privilege...
(
see also post-left anarchyPost-left anarchy is a recent current in anarchist thought that promotes a critique of anarchism's relationship to traditional leftism. Some post-leftists seek to escape the confines of ideology in general...
). Rather they view the socialist and
liberalLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...
orientations as corrupt. Primitivists argue that the Left has proven itself to be a monumental failure in its objectives. The Left, according to primitivists, is a general term and can roughly describe all socialist leanings (from social democrats and liberals to communists) which wish to re-socialize “the masses” into a more “progressive” agenda, often using coercive and manipulative approaches in order to create a false “unity” or the creation of political parties. While primitivists understand that the methods or extremes in implementation may differ, the overall push is seen as the same: the institution of a collectivized and monolithic world-view based on
moralityMorality has three principal meanings.In its first, descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct or belief concerning matters of what is moral or immoral...
.
Against mass society
Most
anarchistsAnarchism is a political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which consider the state, as compulsory government, to be unnecessary, harmful, and/or undesirable, and favors the absence of the state ....
and revolutionaries spend a significant portion of their time developing schemes and mechanisms for production, distribution, adjudication, and communication between large numbers of people; in other words, the functioning of a complex society. Primitivists do not accept the premise of global (or even regional) social, political, and economic coordination and interdependence, or the organization needed for their administration. They reject mass society for practical and philosophical reasons. First, they reject the inherent governmental representation necessary for the functioning of situations outside the realm of direct experience (completely decentralized modes of existence). They do not wish to run society or organize a different society. They want a completely different frame of reference. They want a world where each group is autonomous and decides on its own terms how to live, with all interactions being non-coercive, based on affinity, freedom, and openness.
According to primitivists, mass society brutally collides not only with autonomy and the individual, but also with the earth and the network of ecological relationships which make up its living communities. They see it as simply not sustainable (in terms of the resource extraction, transportation, and communication systems necessary for any global economic system). It cannot continue indefinitely, nor is it possible to create alternative plans for a sustainable and humane mass society.
Liberation and organization
Primitivists argue that organizational models only provide us with more of the same. While it is recognized by some primitivists that there might be an occasional good intention, the organizational model is seen as coming from an inherently paternalistic and distrusting mindset which they hold is contradictory to
anarchyAnarchy may refer to any of the following:* "No rulership or enforced authority." * "Absence of government; a state of lawlessness due to the absence or inefficiency of the supreme power; political disorder."...
. Primitivists believe that true relationships of affinity come from a deep understanding of one another through intimate need-based relationships of day-to-day life, not relationships based on organizations, ideologies, or abstract ideas. They say that the organizational model suppresses individual needs and desires for “the good of the collective” as it attempts to standardize both resistance and vision. From parties, to platforms, to federations, primitivists argue that as the scale of projects increase, the meaning and relevance they have to an individual’s own life decrease.
Rather than the familiar organizational model, primitivists advocate the use of informal, affinity-based associations that they claim tend to minimize alienation from decision-making processes, and reduce mediation between our desires and our actions.
Revolution vs. reform
As anarchists, primitivists are fundamentally opposed to
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
, and likewise, any sort of collaboration or mediation with
the stateA sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
(or any institution of hierarchy and control)—except as a matter of tactical expediency. This position determines a certain continuity or direction of strategy, historically referred to as
revolutionA revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
. By revolution, primitivists mean the ongoing struggle to alter the social and political landscape in a fundamental way: for anarchists, this means its complete dismantling. The word “revolution” is seen as dependent on the position from which it is directed, as well as what would be termed “revolutionary” activity. Again, for anarchists, this is activity which is aimed at the complete dissolution of abstract power.
Reform, on the other hand, is seen as entailing any activity or strategy aimed at adjusting, altering, or selectively maintaining elements of the current system, typically utilizing the methods or apparatus of that system. The goals and methods of revolution, it is argued, cannot be dictated by, nor performed within, the context of the system. For anarchists, revolution and reform invoke incompatible methods and aims, and despite the use of certain pragmatic expedient approaches, do not exist on a continuum.
For primitivists, revolutionary activity questions, challenges, and works to dismantle the entire set-up or paradigm of civilization. Revolution is not seen as a far-off or distant singular event which we build towards or prepare people for, but instead, a way of life, or a practice of approaching situations.
Critique of symbolic culture
Some anarcho-primitivists view the shift towards an increasingly
symbolic cultureSymbolic culture is a concept used in the social sciences to draw a contrast between "culture" and the distinctively human realm of "symbolic culture"....
as highly problematic in the sense that it separates us from direct interaction. Often the response to this, by those who assume that it means that primitivists prefer to completely eliminate all forms of symbolic culture, is something to the effect of, “So, you just want to grunt?"
However, typically the critique is regarding the problems inherent with a form of
communication Communication is a process of transferring information from one entity to another. Communication processes are sign-mediated interactions between at least two agents which share a repertoire of signs and semiotic rules. Communication is commonly defined as "the imparting or interchange of...
and comprehension that relies primarily on symbolic thought at the expense (and even exclusion) of other sensual and unmediated means of comprehension. The emphasis on the symbolic is a departure from direct experience into mediated experience in the form of
languageA language is a system for encoding and decoding information. In its most common use, the term refers to so-called "natural languages" — the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. In linguistics the term is extended to refer to the human cognitive facility of creating and using...
,
artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
,
numberA number is a mathematical object used in counting and measuring. A notational symbol which represents a number is called a numeral, but in common usage the word number is used for both the abstract object and the symbol, as well as for the word for the number...
,
timeTime is a component of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects...
, etc.
Anarcho-primitivists argue that symbolic culture filters our entire perception through formal and informal symbols and separates us from direct and unmediated contact with reality. It goes beyond just giving things names, and extends to having an indirect relationship with a distorted image of the world that has passed through the lens of representation. It is debatable whether humans are "hard-wired" for symbolic thought, or if it developed as a cultural change or adaptation, but, according to anarcho-primitivists, the symbolic mode of expression and understanding is limited and deceptive, and over-dependence upon it leads to objectification, alienation, and perceptual
tunnel visionIn medical terms, tunnel vision is the loss of peripheral vision with retention of central vision, resulting in a constricted circular tunnel-like field of vision.Tunnel vision can be caused by:* Blood Loss* Alcohol consumption causes tunnel vision...
. Many anarcho-primitivists promote and practice getting back in touch with and rekindling dormant and/or underutilized methods of interaction and cognition, such as touch and smell, as well as experimenting with and developing unique and personal modes of comprehension and expression.
Influences
Anarchists contribute to an
anti-authoritarianAnti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as a "political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule: absolutism, autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism." Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law or redistributive...
push, which challenges all abstract power on a fundamental level, striving for truly egalitarian relationships and promoting communities based upon mutual aid . Primitivists, however, extend ideas of non-domination to all life, not just human life, going beyond the traditional anarchist's analysis. From anthropologists, primitivists are informed with a look at the origins of civilization, so as to understand what they are up against and how they got here, to help inform a change in direction. Inspired by the Luddites, primitivists rekindle an anti-technological/industrial direct action orientation.
InsurrectionalistsInsurrectionary anarchism is a revolutionary theory, practice and tendency within the anarchist movement which opposes formal organizations such as labor unions and federations that are based on a political programme and periodic congresses...
infuse a perspective which waits not for the fine-tuning of critique, but identifies and spontaneously attacks civilization's current institutions.
Primitivists claim they owe much to the Situationists, and their critique of the
SpectacleThe Society of the Spectacle is a work of philosophy and critical theory by Situationist and Marxist theorist, Guy Debord...
and alienating commodity society.
Deep ecologyDeep ecology is a somewhat recent branch of ecological philosophy that considers humankind as an integral part of its environment. The philosophy emphasizes the equal value of human and non-human life as well as the importance of the ecosystem and natural processes...
informs the primitivist perspective with an understanding that the well-being and flourishing of all life is linked to the awareness of the inherent worth and intrinsic value of the non-human world independent of its economic use value. Primitivists see deep ecology’s appreciation for the richness and diversity of life as contributing to the realization that present human interference with the non-human world is coercive and excessive.
BioregionalistsBioregionalism is a political, cultural, and environmental system based on naturally-defined areas called bioregions, or ecoregions. Bioregions are defined through physical and environmental features, including watershed boundaries and soil and terrain characteristics...
bring the perspective of living within one’s bioregion, and being intimately connected to the land, water, climate, plants, animals, and general patterns of their bioregion.
Primitivists have been profoundly influenced by the various
indigenousThe term indigenous peoples can be used to describe any ethnic group of people who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest known historical connection, alongside more recent immigrants who have populated the region and may be greater in number...
cultures and earth-based peoples throughout history and those who still currently exist. While primitivists attempt to learn and incorporate sustainable techniques for survival and healthier ways of interacting with life, they see it as important not to flatten or generalize native peoples and their cultures, and to respect and attempt to understand their diversity without co-opting cultural identities and characteristics. Primitivists also feel that it is important to understand that all humans have come from earth-based peoples forcibly removed from our connections with the earth, and therefore have a place within anti-colonial struggles.
They are also inspired by the
feralA feral organism is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to a wild state. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, can disrupt ecosystems and may, in some cases, contribute to extinction of indigenous...
, those who have escaped domestication and have re-integrated with the wild. And, of course, primitivists honor the wild beings which make up the Earth. It is important to remember that, while many anarcho-primitivists draw influence from similar sources, anarcho-primitivism is something very personal to each individual who identifies or connects with these ideas and actions.
Rewilding and reconnection
For most primitivist anarchists, rewilding and reconnecting with the earth is a life project. They state that it should not be limited to intellectual comprehension or the practice of primitive skills, but, instead, that it is a deep understanding of the pervasive ways in which we are domesticated, fractured, and dislocated from ourselves, each other, and the world. Rewilding is understood as having a physical component which involves reclaiming skills and developing methods for a sustainable co-existence, including how to feed, shelter, and heal ourselves with the plants, animals, and materials occurring naturally in our bioregions. It is also said to include the dismantling of the physical manifestations, apparatus, and infrastructure of civilization.
Rewilding is also described as having an
emotionAn emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Emotions are subjective experiences, often associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition. The English word 'emotion' is derived from the French word émouvoir...
al component, which involves healing ourselves and each other from what are perceived as 10,000-year-old wounds, learning how to live together in non-hierarchical and non-oppressive communities, and de-constructing the domesticating mindset in our social patterns. To the primitivist, “rewilding includes prioritizing direct experience and passion over mediation and
alienationIn sociology and critical social theory, alienation refers to an individual's estrangement from traditional community and others in general. It is considered by many that the atomism of modern society means that individuals have shallower relations with other people than they would normally...
, re-thinking every dynamic and aspect of reality, connecting with our feral fury to defend our lives and to fight for a liberated existence, developing more trust in our intuition and being more connected to our instincts, and regaining the balance that has been virtually destroyed after thousands of years of patriarchal control and domestication. Rewilding is the process of becoming uncivilized.”
Associations
In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
anarcho-primitivism has been notably advocated by writers
John ZerzanJohn Zerzan is an American anarchist and primitivist philosopher and author. His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocate drawing upon the ways of life of prehistoric humans as an inspiration for what a free society should look like...
, Kevin Tucker,
Daniel QuinnDaniel Quinn is an American writer described as environmentalist. He is best known for his book Ishmael , which won the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship Award in 1991....
,
Derrick JensenDerrick Jensen is an American author and environmental activist living in Crescent City, California. Jensen has published several books questioning and critiquing contemporary society and its values, including A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, and Endgame. He holds a B.S...
, and John Gowdy. The anarcho-primitivist movement has connections to
radical environmentalismRadical environmentalism, is a grassroots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged out of an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism...
, gaining some attention due to the ideas of
Theodore KaczynskiTheodore John Kaczynski , also known as the Unabomber , is an American mathematician, social critic, and murderer who carried out a campaign of mail bombings, as well as a described anarcho-primitivist.He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where, as an intellectual child prodigy, he excelled...
("the Unabomber") following his
LudditeThe Luddites were a social movement of British textile artisans in the early nineteenth century who protested—often by destroying mechanized looms—against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their entire way of...
bombing campaign. Recently anarcho-primitivism has been enthusiastically explored by
Green AnarchyGreen Anarchy is a magazine published by a collective located in Eugene, Oregon. The magazine's focus is on primitivism, post-left anarchy, radical environmentalism, anarchist resistance, indigenous resistance, earth and animal liberation, anti-capitalism and supporting political prisoners...
,
Species TraitorSpecies Traitor is a sporadically published journal of insurrectionary anarcho-primitivism. It is printed as a project of Black and Green Network....
, and occasionally
Anarchy: A Journal of Desire ArmedAnarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed is a North American anarchist magazine, and is one of the most popular anarchist publications in North America. It could be described as a general interest and critical, non-ideological anarchist journal...
, and even
CrimethInc.CrimethInc., also known as CWC , is a decentralized anarchist collective of autonomous cells. CrimethInc. emerged in the mid-1990s – initially as the hardcore zine Inside Front – and began operating as a collective in 1996...
. The current anarcho-primitivist movement originated in the journal
Fifth Estate, and was developed over a series of years in the 1970s and 1980s by writers such as
Fredy PerlmanFredy Perlman was an author, publisher and activist. His most popular work, the book Against His-Story, Against Leviathan!, details the rise of state domination with a retelling of history through the Hobbesian metaphor of the Leviathan. The book remains a major source of inspiration for...
, David Watson, Bob Brubaker and John Zerzan. Vast theoretical differences between Watson's and Zerzan's forms of primitivism caused a split in the late 1980s.
During the 1990s the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
magazine
Green AnarchistThe magazine Green Anarchist was for a while the principal voice in the UK advocating green anarchism, an explicit fusion of libertarian socialist and ecological thinking.-Early years:...
aligned itself with anarcho-primitivism, although there are many
green anarchistsGreen anarchism is a school of thought within anarchism which puts an emphasis on environmental issues. An important early influence was the thought of the American individualist anarchist Henry David Thoreau and his book Walden. Some green anarchists can be described as anarcho-primitivists ,...
who are not anarcho-primitivists.
Anti-civilization anarchists also organize groups in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
,
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
,
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
, and
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
.
Anarcho-primitivism is associated with and has influenced the radical tendencies within
Neo-TribalismNeotribalism is the ideology that human beings have evolved to live in a tribal, as opposed to a mass, modern society, and thus cannot achieve genuine happiness until some semblance of tribal lifestyles has been re-created or re-embraced.-General ideology:...
.
Criticism from within anarchism
Notable critics of primitivism include
Noam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, political activist, author, and lecturer. He is an Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is well known in the academic and scientific community as...
,
Michael AlbertMichael Albert is a longtime activist, speaker, and writer, is co-editor of ZNet, and co-editor and co-founder of Z Magazine. He also co-founded South End Press and has written numerous books and articles...
, Brian Sheppard, Andrew Flood,
Stewart HomeStewart Home is a British artist, academic, film maker, writer, subcultural pamphleteer, underground art historian, and activist.Home is best known in Anglo-American mainstream culture for his neo-conceptual art work and more recent novels, such as the non-narrative 69 Things To Do With A Dead...
,
Dana WardDana Ward is a professor of Political Studies at Pitzer College, where he founded and maintains the Anarchy Archives and has taught since 1982. He was the Executive Director of The International Society of Political Psychology from July 1998 to the Fall of 2004...
, and, especially,
Murray BookchinMurray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist, political and social philosopher, environmentalist/conservationist, atheist, speaker, and writer. For much of his life he called himself an anarchist, although as early as 1995 he privately renounced his identification with the anarchist...
, as seen in his polemical work entitled "Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism".
Theodore KaczynskiTheodore John Kaczynski , also known as the Unabomber , is an American mathematician, social critic, and murderer who carried out a campaign of mail bombings, as well as a described anarcho-primitivist.He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where, as an intellectual child prodigy, he excelled...
, in his book
The Road to Revolution, criticizes the green anarchists and anarcho-primitivists for having their critique neutralized to a great extent by the influence of the
leftIn politics, left-wing, political left, leftist and the Left are terms used to describe a number of positions and ideologies. They are most commonly used to refer to support for changing traditional social orders or for creating a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and privilege...
, arguing that a real critique of civilization requires a real attack on the values of the existing system. He believes that "instead of rebelling against the values of civilization, they have adopted many civilized values themselves and have constructed an imaginary picture of primitive societies that embodies these civilized values". He then proceeds to explain that what makes primitive life superior is not related at all to "gender equality, kindness to animals, non-competitiveness, or nonviolance", features which he considers to be the "soft values of modern civilization".
Population
Both critics and proponents of anarcho-primitivism generally agree that if everyone lived as a hunter-gatherer, the earth would be able to support far fewer people than today's population of over 6.5 billion.
Use of media technology
One common criticism of primitivists is that in order to disseminate their views, they make use of print and internet publishing technologies. Such arguments have been employed to suggest that anarcho-primitivists are insincere or hypocritical for using modern technology.
Primitivists, such as Derrick Jensen, John Zerzan, and many others respond that using the internet and print media are effective at spreading their beliefs, and less harmful than doing nothing to avoid seeming "hypocritical". They believe that by using effective tools that are already in place today anyway, they can hopefully create a society where those technologies are no longer produced or used.
Derrick JensenDerrick Jensen is an American author and environmental activist living in Crescent City, California. Jensen has published several books questioning and critiquing contemporary society and its values, including A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, and Endgame. He holds a B.S...
has responded to these critics first by saying that it "reveals the weakness of their own position: they cannot rebut the substance of our message, so they simply attack the messenger."
Lifestyle
Another common criticism, which some believe suggests hypocrisy, is that few primitivist philosophers live in primitive societies themselves.
Jensen states that while the critics are accurate in saying that primitivists do not live a completely primitivist lifestyle, the critics are not accurate in saying that the primitives
choose not to. He believes that no legitimate options exist within the system to live such a lifestyle, and that it is necessary that people "dismantle the industrial economy" before they have a real choice about how they will live.
For instance,
Theodore KaczynskiTheodore John Kaczynski , also known as the Unabomber , is an American mathematician, social critic, and murderer who carried out a campaign of mail bombings, as well as a described anarcho-primitivist.He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where, as an intellectual child prodigy, he excelled...
, who did live a primitive lifestyle said:
Jensen also claims that focusing primarily on lifestyle changes "serves the interests of those in power by keeping our focus off them." and instead considering one's self to be "the problem", rather than "those in power"
Civilization and violence
Another line of criticism attacks the anarcho-primitivist argument that hierarchy and mass violence result from civilization, citing for example, the dominance and territorial struggles observed in
chimpanzeeChimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s. Some thinkers within anarcho-primitivism such as
Pierre ClastresPierre Clastres, , was a French anthropologist and ethnographer. He is best known for his fieldwork among the Guayaki in Paraguay and his theory on stateless societies...
offer an anthropological explanation of the necessity of a certain amount of violence, while embracing anarchy as the natural balance for primitive societies.
Anarcho-primitivists, based on several anthropological references, argue that
hunter-gathererA hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild, foraging and hunting without significant recourse to the domestication of either...
societies, by their very nature are less susceptible to war, violence and diseases.
Practicality
Another question regarding anarcho-primitivism is the practicality. John Zerzan admits that primitivist ideals are difficult even for the convinced to put into practice: “It’s a huge challenge. You've got these great grandiose ideas, but the rubber has to hit the road somewhere, and we know that. I don’t know how that's going to work.… [W]e are a long way from connecting with that reality and we have to face that. You start off with questioning things and trying to enlarge the space where people can have dialogue and raise the questions that are not being raised anywhere else. But we don’t have blueprints as to what people should do.”
Other primitivist thinkers have suggested that primitivism as a philosophy is rich with numerous practical applications even in our current context, including: paleolithic diet, nutrition and exercise, reducing consumerism, simple living, a do-it-yourself orientation, increasing local self-sufficiency, spending more time outdoors, going hunting and fishing, connecting with a local land-base, practicing nature awareness and primitive wilderness skills, increasing focus on personal relationships including family and local community, and activism on solidarity issues with indigenous peoples. Primitivism as a world view also tends to give credence to long-standing examples from indigenous peoples of solutions to various modern social problems, which touch on political issues as diverse as "gay rights" and abortion, to environmentalism, hunting and vegetarianism.
Mass society
Brian Sheppard asserts that anarcho-primitivism is not a form of anarchism at all. In
Anarchism Vs. Primitivism he says: "In recent decades, groups of quasi-religious mystics have begun equating the primitivism they advocate (rejection of science, rationality, and technology often lumped together under a blanket term "technology") with anarchism. In reality, the two have nothing to do with each other."
Flood agrees with this assertion and points out that primitivism clashes with what he identifies as the fundamental goal of anarchism, "the creation of a free mass society".
Primitivists do not believe that a "
mass societyMass society is a description associated with society in the modern, industrial era. Descriptions of society as a "mass" took form in the 19th century, referring to the leveling tendencies in the period of the Industrial Revolution that undermined traditional and aristocratic values...
" can be free. They believe industry and agriculture inevitably lead to hierarchy and alienation. They claim that the division of labor that techno-industrial societies require to function force people into reliance on factories and the labor of other specialists to produce their food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities and that this dependence forces them to remain a part of this society, whether they like it or not.
The critique of language
Because there are some primitivists who have extended their critique of symbolic culture to language itself,
Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a Jesuit private university located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Father John Carroll founded the school in 1789, though its roots extend back to 1634. While the school struggled financially in its early years, Georgetown expanded into a branched university after the...
professor
Mark LanceMark Lance is a professor in the Philosophy Department and Justice and Peace Studies Program at Georgetown University. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of Robert Brandom and his main area of expertise is the philosophy of language, epistemology, philosophical...
describes this particular theory of primitivism as "literally insane, for proper communication is necessary to create within the box a means to destroy the box."
See also
- Antimodernism
- Eco-anarchism
- Eco-communalism
Eco-communalism is an environmental philosophy based on ideals of simple living, local economies, and self-sufficiency . Eco-communalists envision a future in which the economic system of capitalism is replaced with a global web of economically interdependent and interconnected small local...
- Ecofeminism
Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which points to the existence of considerable common ground between environmentalism and feminism, with some currents linking deep ecology and feminism...
- Green anarchy
Green Anarchy is a magazine published by a collective located in Eugene, Oregon. The magazine's focus is on primitivism, post-left anarchy, radical environmentalism, anarchist resistance, indigenous resistance, earth and animal liberation, anti-capitalism and supporting political prisoners...
- Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild, foraging and hunting without significant recourse to the domestication of either...
- Earth liberation
Earth liberation has no universal understanding as a concept, as it is much considered to be a part of radical environmentalism, or as a militant off-shoot, favouring instead radical and revolutionary environmentalism.-History:...
- Deindustrialization
Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially heavy industry or manufacturing industry. It is an opposite of industrialization.- Multiple interpretations :There are multiple...
- Post-left anarchy
Post-left anarchy is a recent current in anarchist thought that promotes a critique of anarchism's relationship to traditional leftism. Some post-leftists seek to escape the confines of ideology in general...
- Myth of Progress
The Myth of Progress is the idea of refuting the concept that the whole of human society, or some part of it, has experienced a normative evolution in a positive direction, and will continue to do so in the future...
- Neo-Luddism
Neo-Luddism is a personal philosophy against technology.Neo-luddism is based on the historical legacy of the British Luddites which were active between 1811 and 1816...
- Primitive communism
Primitive communism is a term used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to describe a pre-agrarian form of communism:A term usually associated with Karl Marx, but most fully elaborated by Friedrich Engels , and referring to the collective right to basic resources, egalitarianism in social...
- Neo-Tribalism
Neotribalism is the ideology that human beings have evolved to live in a tribal, as opposed to a mass, modern society, and thus cannot achieve genuine happiness until some semblance of tribal lifestyles has been re-created or re-embraced.-General ideology:...
- Simple living
Simple living is a lifestyle characterized by minimizing the "more is better" pursuit of wealth and consumption...
- Diogenes of Sinope
Diogenes of Sinope , also known as Diogenes the Cynic was a Greek philosopher, born in Sinope about 412 BC , and died in 323 BC, at Corinth...
External links